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The Click

July 7 - 13

by Brian Hanson, Jul 7th 2007

This is going to be another relatively quick column this week, but boy, what a crazy and exciting week it was! Despite the long walks, long lines, and general insanity of the Long Beach convention center, Anime Expo 2007 was a pretty good time. A few highlights from my own trip:

-Doing, like, a full five-minute handstand in front of the big fountain at the Performing Arts Center
-Doing another handstand outside the hotel lobby
-Getting kicked out of the line for the SKIN concert for doing multiple handstands
-Running onstage during Closing Ceremonies and doing a handstand

Anyhow, let's get down to The Click's main order of business: stuff on TV!

This week's Click Pick serves a sort of nefarious purpose: Yes, I am fully aware that ImaginAsianTV is only available in limited markets. However, in case I have not made myself pertinently clear in the past two-dozen installments, Gankutsuou is a very well made, intelligent, and gorgeously designed show, one that is currently available on DVD now for those of throngs of you outside of IATV's magnanimous grip. This particular episode is the series finale, an epilogue of sorts that chronicles the lives of the myriad of characters some four years after the epic final battle in the previous episode. All of which involves content certain groups might find "spoiler-y."

This week on that one show involving spirits and big swords and drama, Captain Zaraki and Ichigo conclude their cataclysmic duel, which happens to include lots of stabbing and slicing and the flowing of precious blood. Fun stuff, in other words.

A routine trip along the Trans-Siberian Raildroad is visited upon by disaster! And by that I mean Chiropterans, those misunderstood vampire beings whose only crime is wishing to feast upon the supple flesh of the living. Is that so wrong?

As the starcrossed lovers Ren and Cou rapidly approach their destination, the mystical Edel Garden, the misbegotten duo reflect upon their journey thus far. That, plus more made-up words possibly invented during a heated game of Scrabble, or possibly Boggle!

Ergo Proxy
(Fuse)Saturday July 7 12:00am - Episode 4 "Futu Risk"

Goth-y detective Re-I follows the trail of a man named Vincent Law in hopes of discovering more clues to the secrets of her dingy, crime-infested hellhole of a city. Like Sam Spade in a dress, sans the opium addiction.

Tensions mount in the Gekkostate, as a simple excursion to do some "Lifting" angers their overseer, Holland, who then threatens to dismiss his ragtag group of freedom fighters entirely. But then he takes a nap and has a cookie and feels less grumpy.

The newly reunited ZAFT forces being their all-out Gundam assault against other Gundams, using Gundams and their Gundammy weapons. I should probably say "Gundam" at least three more times. Gundam Gundam Gundam.

What sort of kooky misadventures, tinged with melodrama and fantasy intrigue, can our humble yet befuddled quasi-ruler get himself into this week? Mayhap some tomfoolery is afoot! Zounds!

The Law of Ueki
(ImaginAsianTV)Tuesday July 10 6:00pm - Episode 24 "The Law of Young Robert" (Repeats Tue July 10 9:00pm, Wed July 11 1:30am, 1:00pm)

Ueki, and, by transitive property, the audience, learns of the possibly humble backstory to the Robert's Ten, which is of course punctuated by what the MPAA would describe as "Frenetic Cartoon Violence."

So gosh-darned unfair; Inuyasha repeats clog through Adult Swim's schedule, and yet there's not even the faintest whiff of possibility of airing the second season of Geneon and Phuuz's wonderful Lupin III dub? For shame. Those of you in Canada, though, get to treat yourself to something nice, as Lupin III officially airs its last batch of English-language episodes in North America. Unless, like, five million of you go out and buy all the DVDs tomorrow and Geneon feels like dubbing more. Which I would not mind in the least.

Ginta, Jack, Babbo, and the rest of the colorfully chipper cast of MAR attempt to rescue the distressed Princess Snow, but first must battle against the villainous "Chess Piece" named Ian. Just as an aside, every dude I've ever met named Ian has been a tremendous dickweed. Just sayin'.

Another month, another (expletive deleted) Naruto marathon! What the hell, Cartoon Network, it isn't even sweeps this month. Couldn't you guys at least pretend that some of your other Toonami shows are capable of holding an audience? YTV gets in on the action as well, albeit far more restrained; I would love, of course, to tell you which two exact episodes will be airing this Friday, but we all know that I'm not allowed to have nice things.

Noein
(Sci Fi)Monday July 9 11:00pm - Episode 4 "Friends"

Psychics, secret organizations, high school drama? It's Noein! This week: Girl A says something mean to Girl B and then Boy D gets involved, and can't we all just get along?

Good lord, nearly 490 episodes. That is officially "behemoth" proportions. What I don't understand is, where's the PR blitz on Nintendo's behalf for Pokemon's immense episode count? I can't swing a dead marsupial without hearing about how amazing it is that The Simpsons are having their 410th episode extravaganza, or that Grey's Anatomy is proudly celebrating their 700th televised minute. I'm sure the episodes themselves involve Pokemon and the catching-slash-battling thereof.

What other sorts of horrible, soul-crushing events can happen to a poor French orphan, whose upbeat attitude is perhaps the only thing preventing the viewers from drinking themselves into a depressed stupor? Tune in to watch this wonderfully animated classic that delights in depressing you with seemingly sadistic glee!

Souichiro and Bob train their minds and bodies under the tutelage of the voluptuous Natsume sisters, while the Executive Council begins their evil operation to crush the upstart "Juken Club." It's like "My So-Called Life," but with karate.

Are you the sort of disconcertingly jaded anime fan whose eyes and mind tend to wander unless captivated by that primal force known as "fanservice"? Do you perhaps feel that arterial spray has not been rendered well enough in recent anime series? Tokko has your number, friend! Breasts and guns and stabbings galore!

The worldly human-mamodo duo, Sherry and Brago, return to the center stage to battle against the wicked villain, Zofis. This is, by the by, the last episode aired in the US; will YTV carry onward with Zatch's lightning-vomiting, nudity-prone animated adventures? Time will tell, gentle readers.

Pokemon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew
(Cartoon Network)Saturday July 7 2:30pm

Pokemon: Destiny Deoxys
(Cartoon Network)Thursday July 12 11:00am

Six Pokemon movies, wow. Perhaps now would be an appropriate time to mention that I am officially burnt out on Pokemon Pearl, and that the thrill and excitement of possibly Catching 'Em All has long since subsided?

Encore Action, meanwhile, has the usual stuff. If I were a less fastidious TV columnist I would insert the word "yawn" here, in between two asterixes. Asterices?

Howl's Moving Castle
(Starz)Thursday July 12 9:10am

Rounding things out nicely is Howl's Moving Castle, playing early morning on Starz. Which means, if you've signed up for cable in the past month, you probably get the channel for free, so have at it!

I guess that's it for now. Keep your eyes peeled here on The Click for some really cool new developments in the coming weeks. Dare I say: video? I'll let the potential excitement from such an endeavor seep in over the next seven days, when I will return anew!

They're still showing 35mm prints of Ghibli classics like Princess Mononoke in some revival theaters - but what's so special about 35mm? Justin has some thoughts.― David asked: Hi! I've noticed that several art house theaters in the NY metro area have started showing 35mm version of Ghibli classics like Mononoke and Nausicaa. is there any real benefit to seeing these over the "regular versions" mor...

From She and Her Cat to Your Name., Anne Lauenroth ranks all of Makoto Shinkai's projects from top to bottom. What are your favorite creations by this distinctive director?― Why do we wake up crying from a dream we've already begun to forget? Why does the feeling of loss linger after the memory of that dream has faded to a vague feeling of something that should be there but isn't? How can we long f...

Corpse Party's conclusion diverges more from the game than ever before, but disappoints as a horror story. Rebecca Silverman explains what went wrong.― These volumes, according to creators Toshimi Shinomiya and Makoto Kedouin, are where the manga adaptation of Corpse Party: Blood Covered really diverges from its game original. By this point the cast is most cut back down to its first game characters...

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We frequently hear about how in Western animation, performances are often taped before animation really starts - but the opposite is apparently true in Japan. Justin gets into it.― James asked: Some time ago, you stated that one of the major differences between western animation and Japanese animation is that, in western animation, all dialogue is recorded first, and then the animation is done to m...

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Mike devours a few episodes of the genre-smashing French action cartoon Lastman and wonders - is this anime?― Earlier this year I was at the Crunchyroll Expo, where I hosted a bunch of discussion panels and presented a couple of my own. The homogenous look and omnipresent Crunchyroll branding took some getting used to, but it was ultimately an energetic and well-run show, a deft mix of the stuff I l...

My Monster Secret’s sixth volume maintains its madcap romcom appeal in spite of some predictably glacial pacing. Nick Creamer has the details.― At last, it's time for action. As My Monster Secret's sixth volume opens, our hero Asahi reiterates his determination to actually confess to his vampiric classmate Shiragami. Having been spurred into action by the courage of his childhood friend Mikan, he's ...